the 72’s…my quest begins

Ok, so this is the third in the trifecta of 1970 baseball card set build starts.  Again, to recap.  I had zero intention of starting to build these sets but just couldn’t pass up the condition and price of the cards from what i could see.  So, in order to keep it short tonight lets go!

72 TO Lot 1

A couple cards of note here are the Billy Cowan card with the perfectly situated photographer and Angels halo.  Not sure about the history of the card, but i can imagine the photographer was thinking…”man it would be awesome if i could capture Billy with the halo over his head if can just squat down…just a little…”  The other card is the Billy Martin card.  I like Billy for a few reason.  He was a badass, for good or bad, he was a tough guy and didn’t take crap…that kind of guy, the kind of guy that would get in a bar fight just of the fun of.  Not that i condone that kind of nonsense, but it’s just a little entertaining to me…Also, he was Rickey Henderson’s favorite manager and in my book, that’s good enough for me.

72 TO Lot 2

The star of this group of cards for me is the Dave Cash card right in the middle.  He was the starting third baseman for the Pirates on September 1, 1971…the first time a major league baseball team ever started an all black starting lineup, plus it’s a pretty sweet looking card.

72 TO Lot 3

Big card here is the Bob Grich…i guess.  There’s a lot of chatter about him being a Hall of Famer lately.  Honestly, i not too familiar with him or the impact he had with the Orioles and Angels during his 17 year career.  Just skimming over his stats, he seems like one of those guys that had a really nice career and did some great things, but i’m not convinced that i see a Hall of Famer with him…could be wrong, would love it if someone told me why i was wrong as i love to learn more about players before my years.

72 TO Lot 4Favorite card in this group, Matty Alou.  He looks like every other Alou too.  What a family business, huh?  Love it when you get the 2 or 3 generations or multiple brothers playing professional sports.  Makes me thing about how competitive those families must have been growing up, i would imagine a ton of very intense HORSE games in the driveway and maybe some bloodshed…or tears at the very least.

72 TO Lot 5Small group for the last run, but must say that my favorite card is the checklist.  Only because it’s a 45 year old card with very nice corners and zero marks on it…zero!  Those red blotches are the dealers marks that mean something to him…or somebody, but not me.  The Mickey Lolich card is pretty sweet too.

So, if you have some nice versions of these cards in your extras or doubles boxes drop me a line and let me know if you can help complete some of these sets.  Here is the link to the cards that i have…or need, depending on your point of view i guess.  1972 Topps Checklist.

The family and i had a great time this weekend and were able to enjoy the amazing warm weather on Saturday and Sunday…hope you guys had a great weekend and aren’t one of those towns buried by snow.

Here’s a nice song for the moment…been listening to some jazz this week and got stuck on some Flying Lotus for some reason.  He’s not truly in the jazz lane, but this song has a nice jazzy feel to it…plus King Kendrick.

Road Trip Packs I

Since I was going to be on a road trip from 4 days, I thought it would be cool to pick up a couple of packs along the way from a local Target or Wal Mart.  Living in Portland, we don’t have too many local Wal Marts and Target is my only real retail option, which isn’t bad at all…I’m just saying.

Our first stop along the way was in Amarillo, Texas.  Yes, I know.  EPIC by all possible definitions.  I picked up a couple retail packs of the Football version of Topps Archives.  I already had a couple of Hobby pack versions and was curious what would come out of a Wal Mart.

And here we go!

Love the Wilson Card, great action photo and love the look in his eyes.  Wilson should be one of the next great QB’s in the league for the next few years…just hope his team stops knocking mine out of the playoffs.

13 TA Russell Wilson

Next up was a mini Calvin Johnson Jr. card with some sweet color gradation from top to bottom.

13 TA Calvin Johnson Jr. Mini

and finally, the last card i’d like to present from a retail wal mart pack is a Darrelle Revis gold parallel from the New York Jets  Tampa Bay Buccaneers!

13 TA Darrelle Revis Gold Parallel

A quiet autograph post of HOF’ers…Maddux will be there soon.

Not much to say tonight, just wanted to show off some of the autos that i’ve been going through while digging in the old boxes from Mom’s house.  More can be seen on the cardboardhogs tumblr site if you are interested in clicking.  Have a good night!

AU Barry Sanders AU Andre Dawson AU George Brett AU Greg Maddux